The Long Road to Somewhere...

   So for those of you who do not know the real story on how we began let me share it with you! We started this adventure when I was 15 and in high school. My mother, Annette, worked for an oil company in Houston.  She got the bright idea that we should start selling jewelry at little, local, craft fairs in order to force me to spend time with her.  You know as a teenager the last place on earth you want to be is with your parents. LOL! So this was her way of convincing me to be with her while earning some spending money. 
   She invested her own money into purchasing some sterling jewelry and some cheap fashion jewelry for us to sell. At one particular time we sold the little flip flop necklaces on the fishing string necklace (which was a home run at all the beach shows) and these cheap two for $10 stretch bracelets.  I'm sure you know what I'm talking about if you were living in the early 2000's they were typically in themes like one would be all sports stuff anther might be all summer stuff.  Anyways, we sold the fire out of those things. We would pitch a tent in the middle of the road or beach at these little shows and throw out some fold-up tables with a sheet on them and just lay them on the table. I'm literally laughing as I am telling this just visioning how tacky it looked!!!!!! Oh no, it does not end there....
   I want to elaborate a little on the shows that we did because we often laugh so hard at some of the things we have done that I almost pee in my pants! One show is the Gator Fest near Beaumont I believe, at that particular show we sweated our butts off from Thursday-Sunday and ONLY sold 1 PAIR of SHOES!!!!! That means we only made $40!!! Let me take that back we didn't even make $40 by the time we paid for our booth, hotel, food, gas, etc!  They were rangling alligators while we were trying to sell our goods! I'm not knocking any of you gator wrestlers out there, we are from the country and I have some redneck family but geez I have NEVER seen anything like it! LOL so that was just one of the 100's of horrible shows we have done! Another was Dickens on the Strand in Galveston. This show fell on my birthday EVERY YEAR! I turned 16 and 18 there in the freezing rain under a tent dressed in victorian attire (Required) and selling 2 for $10  bracelets! LOL! One year it rained so bad, mind you it's in the middle of December, that we had to go to the laundry mat at like midnight to dry all of our clothes because we were drinched! There was also another show we did in Port A where we got robbed that night and they stole almost all of our jewelry out of our booth! I felt so bad for my mom. As a child you dont really understand how much hard work goes into making a dollar! Well by this time I had a pretty good idea, but I still felt sooooo bad! I think my mom might have even cried now thinking back! But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger! I guess the good the was we had already got our palms read and our henna tattoos before they took us for everything! LMBO!!!! Needless to say we have PAID our dues!!!!
   Our big break was when we got into the hand-painted leather products! We were importing them from China and had great success with it! It was different, unique, and really set us apart from our competitors.  We then were able to upgrade to better trade shows that were INDOORS! Where the customers actually came to shop and not wrestle gators, get drunk, or build sand castles.  We were then introduced to the wholesale aspect of our business that helped us grow even more.  There were still some serious growing pains through this time, my mother was still working full time, I was still in school and we were gone all the time! The only way to get your name out there was to put it out there and the only way to do that was to hit the road, so we did! My freshman year of college we did like 40 something shows! There are only 52 weeks in a year and 40 of those weekends we were gone! CrAzY, I know! Not to mention the fact that we drove this old Dodge truck that was constantly breaking down or in need of some sort of maintenance! 
    Once the painted leather started to fade we had pretty much hit our stride. We had a good following, we had pretty much figured out our niche and place in this big, crazy world of retail.  While we accomplished so many goals and overcome so many hurdles there are still have goals that we are striving for, like our store, which we are in the process of getting financed now, we know that we will just have to do what we have to in order to get it!  Sometimes mom gets a little discouraged but we didn't come this FAR to stop here!  We know what it takes since we have just about done it all! We have been on top and knocked down to only go up again! All things are possible with the good man upstairs and if there is a will there is a way!
    So don't get discouraged if your dreams aren't quiet going as planned it never does, and when it's a passion and there's a fire that burns deep, you will not allow it to fail! Failing is not an option it's just sometimes an obstacle to overcome! Until Friday, live your dreams!!!

A note to my mother:  In telling our story today, which wasn't even scratching the surface, I want you to know that I am so eternally grateful for you making me travel with you!  You added and continue to add so much joy, laughter, and quirkiness to my life! While sometimes we are so bogged down you are always the sun in my sky! I have enjoyed this wild, hard, ride and can't wait for it to make a full circle someday! When you are 80 and I am 58 and you are serving ice cream in the store and I am telling you how your supposed to do it and making up stuff for you to do while keeping you focused... I want you to know that I will be just as happy then as I am now! I love you! XOXO :*) Meg